राजनीति

Happy to see you, Pakistan Chief Justice greets Imran Khan during arrest hearing

In a major relief to former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, the Supreme Court on Thursday termed his and ordered his immediate release. Prior to the crucial verdict, Pakistan Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial welcomed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader, saying "Happy to see you!".

Imran Khan was produced before a three-judge bench that comprised of Chief Justice Bandial, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Athar Minallah,

The Supreme Court also directed the PTI chief to appear before the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday. Justice Bandial also expressed displeasure over the manner in which Imran Khan's arrest had taken place, a Dawn News report said. Bandial asked how an individual could be arrested from the court premises?

On the other hand, Justice Minallah said, "How can anyone be denied the right to justice?". The Pakistan top court also observed that no one could be arrested from the court without permission of the court's registrar. Chief Justice Bandial also at point observed that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had committed "contempt of court".

Chief Justice Bandial observed that the arrest indicates to denying access to justice without fear and intimation, which was the right of every citizen. He noted that appearing in court is a form of surrender, and questioned how could Imran Khan be arrested after surrender. “If an individual surrendered to the court, then what does arresting them mean?” a PTI report quoted the chief justice as saying.

Imran Khan's counsel Hamid Khan apprised the court that his client had approached IHC seeking a pre-arrest bail but was arrested by paramilitary Rangers. "Rangers misbehaved with Imran Khan and arrested him," the lawyer said.

The court also took note of about 90 to 100 Rangers personnel entering the court to arrest Khan. “What dignity remains of the court if 90 people entered its premises? How can any individual be arrested from court premises?” the chief Justice asked.

"Court staffers were also subjected to abuse,” he said.

Notably, Imran Khan was arrested on Tuesday from the IHC premises and an accountability court on Wednesday handed him over to the NAB for eight days in connection with the Al-Qadir Trust case.

The former premier on Wednesday approached the apex court to set aside the warrants of NAB of May 1 for his arrest and to challenge the Islamabad High Court’s decision to declare the arrest “unlawful”.